


you know nothing lasts forever, but lord i try

by finnsmoose



Category: Tenet (2020)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Goodbyes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:08:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26223145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finnsmoose/pseuds/finnsmoose
Summary: Everything must come to an end, eventually.
Relationships: Neil/The Protagonist (Tenet)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 72





	you know nothing lasts forever, but lord i try

**Author's Note:**

> look, i have absolutely no idea what this movie is actually about, but i know this: neil and the protagonist are gay for each other and are very much in love.
> 
> here's something small that has been going around my head!!!

He’s lying beside you, his hand entwined with yours. You wish you could stay like this forever. Neil is leaving tomorrow, and there is nothing you can do to stop this. You were sure that you could come up with a way to save him by now, but in the end, it had all been futile.

What happened, happened. You can’t change the past, no matter how much you want to.

“When we first met,” Neil begins, breaking the silence. “You asked me if I thought I could run into the burning building.”

You remember the conversation, like it only happened yesterday. You remember how scared you had been to approach him, knowing that it would be the beginning of the end, only to be hooked by Neil from the very first moment he spoke to you. It would have been like falling in love all over again, if you could have gotten over him in the first place.

“You said you _knew_ I could,” Neil continues. You finally look at him, to see that he can’t meet your eyes. “I’m not coming back from this mission, am I?”

Your heart is racing, and when you shut your eyes you hear the gunshot again. The memory never leaves you, it plagues you most nights as Neil holds you tight, telling you that everything is going to be okay. You never could believe him, because you had always known how it would end for the two of you. Nothing was okay with the cards you have been dealt.

You know you should tell him a lie. Ignorance is his best tool, and he doesn’t need a distraction. He’s the best man you have, but you know this is a lot to take in. It might compromise everything.

But, you also know he deserves to know the truth. You can’t let him go with a lie. 

“I’ve done everything I could, I looked into every possibility –” you begin, but you’re interrupted by his lips meeting yours. You can feel a tear roll down your cheek, but you’re not sure who it belongs to. When he pulls apart, you chase his lips. You never want him to leave this room. There’s a part of you that wants the world to end. Why should you live without the man you love, so everyone else can get on with their lives? They’ll never know the sacrifice that Neil will make.

He pulls away, and kisses your forehead. You’ve had enough time to prepare yourself for this moment, but you don’t know what to do or what to say.

Neil is leaving in the morning.

Neil is going to die.

You will never see Neil again.

“You have given me everything I could have ever wished for,” Neil says, as he cradles your face. “Nothing can ever change that, my love.”

You ask him to leave while you’re asleep, so you don’t have to watch him leave again. He agrees with another kiss, and you sink into his arms. You tell him you love him, and how you’ll only ever love him. He tells you about an alternate universe, where there’s a version of the two of you that gets to live happily ever after. You dream of this – of everything that could have been.

And when you wake up, he’s gone.

You wonder how you’re going to continue living without him.


End file.
